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Bank claims Seven Sisters; ghosts said to be upset

Bonnie Morehardt, right, gets a hug from one of her former employees - Innkeeper Cyndee Cecil - after The Seven Sisters Inn was auctioned off Tuesday morning in a foreclosure proceeding in the Jury Assembly Room at the Marion County Judicial Center.

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Fernandina Beach-based First Coast Community Bank, essentially, bought the acclaimed and reportedly haunted two-house bed and breakfast from itself, vowing to place the two century-old homes back on the market. Bank officials first bid $100. Then former inn owner Bonnie Morehardt, offering an “ah-what-the-heck?” look, made the second bid of $150 before a First Coast representative made the third and final bid.

In recent months, the inn has been on the market for about $1.2 million.

After the auction and hallway discussions with First Coast executives, Morehardt and her husband and business partner Ken Oden walked to a group of emotional former inn staff members and announced that bank officials were changing the locks at 3 p.m.

“OK, guys, here’s the deal,” Morehardt said, greeting the group of seven staff members still wearing their Seven Sisters Inn shirts and name badges.

Many hugs were exchanged and tears shed before Oden and Morehardt told their former employees that First Coast will use a local property management company to take care of the inn and prepare it for the real estate market. Oden said First Coast did express interest in seeking owners that would keep one or both of the properties an inn, and Oden told his former staff he would give their names and numbers to First Coast if a potential buyer needed a staff.

Citing privacy concerns for his clients, Chip Townsend, president and CEO of First Coast, declined to discuss the bank’s immediate plans for the inn with the media. But he did say First Coast’s job now is to make sure the inn passes from one owner to the next in its best condition. He also said banks never want to foreclose on property, especially property with such historic and emotional value to the community.

“Had there been a willing buyer in there, that would have been wonderful,” he said after the auction.

Seven Sisters fell into financial trouble, Morehardt and Oden contend, following a failed contract to buy the inn in which the buyers were to assume the mortgage payments in January 2008. The buyers failed to do so, the couple said, and First Coast started the foreclosure process in October.

Since January, Morehardt, Oden and Ocala real estate agent Jane Nolen had been scrambling to find a buyer for the inn before Tuesday’s auction.

The auction price — $100,000 — includes the two Victorian homes on the National Register of Historic Places and everything in them. That includes furnishings and fixtures Oden and Morehardt — both pilots who have worked around the world — collected in their 20 years running the inn. One doorway, for example, is a 250-year-old doorway from a temple in Bali.

The sale does not include the cottage behind the two homes where Oden and Morehardt continue to live. The two own that home.

Tonight at 8, the Ocala-based Southeastern Paranormal Investigations is organizing a public candle-lighting ceremony in front of the inn to say “goodbye.” The group, which conducts walking ghost tours in downtown Ocala, recently launched a petition in an effort to convince First Coast to extend the foreclosure deadline. Between online and paper petitions, SEPI compiled more than 1,000 signatures, said member Nancie J. Andriola.

Several members of SEPI were at the auction Tuesday to support Morehardt and Oden.

After the auction, former staff members commiserated with the ghost hunters, with both parties sharing stories about the inn’s ghosts.

Employees and SEPI members all said paranormal activity at the two Victorian homes has been especially active in the tense recent days leading up to the foreclosure auction. One SEPI member said one photo she took recently showed one home lit up with orbs. She and innkeepers also told of a book that flew off a shelf Monday night.

And both parties concluded the spirits will not be happy about Tuesday’s news.

<p>OCALA - In a morning filled with tears, memories and ghost stories, the mortgage holder for the Seven Sisters Inn purchased the historic Ocala landmark for $100,000 at a foreclosure auction Tuesday.</p><p>Fernandina Beach-based First Coast Community Bank, essentially, bought the acclaimed and reportedly haunted two-house bed and breakfast from itself, vowing to place the two century-old homes back on the market. Bank officials first bid $100. Then former inn owner Bonnie Morehardt, offering an ah-what-the-heck? look, made the second bid of $150 before a First Coast representative made the third and final bid.</p><p>In recent months, the inn has been on the market for about $1.2 million.</p><p>After the auction and hallway discussions with First Coast executives, Morehardt and her husband and business partner Ken Oden walked to a group of emotional former inn staff members and announced that bank officials were changing the locks at 3 p.m.</p><p>OK, guys, here’s the deal, Morehardt said, greeting the group of seven staff members still wearing their Seven Sisters Inn shirts and name badges.</p><p>No, interrupted 15-year assistant innkeeper Bobbie Clarke, let me kiss you first.</p><p>Many hugs were exchanged and tears shed before Oden and Morehardt told their former employees that First Coast will use a local property management company to take care of the inn and prepare it for the real estate market. Oden said First Coast did express interest in seeking owners that would keep one or both of the properties an inn, and Oden told his former staff he would give their names and numbers to First Coast if a potential buyer needed a staff.</p><p>Citing privacy concerns for his clients, Chip Townsend, president and CEO of First Coast, declined to discuss the bank’s immediate plans for the inn with the media. But he did say First Coast’s job now is to make sure the inn passes from one owner to the next in its best condition. He also said banks never want to foreclose on property, especially property with such historic and emotional value to the community.</p><p>Had there been a willing buyer in there, that would have been wonderful, he said after the auction.</p><p>Seven Sisters fell into financial trouble, Morehardt and Oden contend, following a failed contract to buy the inn in which the buyers were to assume the mortgage payments in January 2008. The buyers failed to do so, the couple said, and First Coast started the foreclosure process in October.</p><p>Since January, Morehardt, Oden and Ocala real estate agent Jane Nolen had been scrambling to find a buyer for the inn before Tuesday’s auction.</p><p>The auction price  $100,000  includes the two Victorian homes on the National Register of Historic Places and everything in them. That includes furnishings and fixtures Oden and Morehardt  both pilots who have worked around the world  collected in their 20 years running the inn. One doorway, for example, is a 250-year-old doorway from a temple in Bali.</p><p>The sale does not include the cottage behind the two homes where Oden and Morehardt continue to live. The two own that home.</p><p>Tonight at 8, the Ocala-based Southeastern Paranormal Investigations is organizing a public candle-lighting ceremony in front of the inn to say goodbye. The group, which conducts walking ghost tours in downtown Ocala, recently launched a petition in an effort to convince First Coast to extend the foreclosure deadline. Between online and paper petitions, SEPI compiled more than 1,000 signatures, said member Nancie J. Andriola.</p><p>Several members of SEPI were at the auction Tuesday to support Morehardt and Oden.</p><p>After the auction, former staff members commiserated with the ghost hunters, with both parties sharing stories about the inn’s ghosts.</p><p>Employees and SEPI members all said paranormal activity at the two Victorian homes has been especially active in the tense recent days leading up to the foreclosure auction. One SEPI member said one photo she took recently showed one home lit up with orbs. She and innkeepers also told of a book that flew off a shelf Monday night.</p><p>And both parties concluded the spirits will not be happy about Tuesday’s news.</p>